Air conditioning systems have been designed for use with aircraft. Ideally, such systems are light weight and compact in size. Past systems although considered light and compact at the time of conception are by today's standards heavy, large and include a number of unneeded components. For example, one such system used with the present day aircraft uses air bleed from the aircraft's engine as the input. This air passes through a one way valve and then through a precooler. The flow continues through a pressure regulating valve, and a flow control valve. The air pressure is reduced using this valving to approximately 60 psi. This pressure reduction represents a significant energy loss since the bleed pressure at the engine is much higher, often in the range of 160 psi. A compressor driven by an expansion turbine recompresses the air and delivers it to a secondary heat exchanger. After cooling takes place, the air is directed to drive an expansion turbine cooling the air further and the spent, low pressure air from the turbine unit is directed through a water separator and used for cooling the cabin zones of the aircraft. The energy (cooling) extracted from the air by the turbine is used to drive the compressor mentioned above.
The present invention is directed to overcome one or more of the problems as set forth above.